Digital Commons Network^™

Promoting Wellness Programs To College Students: Relax Program At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Danielle Tucker

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Determining Consumer Interest In Georgian Wines, Julie Ann Inderbitzen

Agribusiness

This study was done in order to determine if there is a demand in California for wines originating in the Eastern European Country of Georgia. A survey was used in order to collect primary data from 100 respondents in two locations. The surveys were conducted in Pleasanton, CA and in San Luis Obispo, CA and were later analyzed using surveymonkey.com Microsoft Excel 2008. The data was analyzed using chi square tests, independent t-tests as well as observed frequencies and charts. The tests were used to determine demographic data about California wine consumers and to measure their interest in wines from …

Marketing Analysis For Ruiz Foods Products In Convenience Stores, Kristin Gabrielle Noga

Agribusiness

This study was undertaken to determine whether or not the location of convenience stores that are in close proximity to a freeway have an impact on the sales of Ruiz Foods products. Store audits were conducted in the months of January and February, 2010 using twenty convenience stores from two major convenience store chains that carried Ruiz Foods products: Johnny Quick and Circle K. As a sample for this study, six cities in California were used: Clovis, Fresno, Selma, Fowler, Dinuba, and Bakersfield. Store locations were selected by the company’s marketing department preferences. The store audits posed questions assessing: the …

A Sustainable Business Proposition For Selling Irrigation Pumps In Ndola, Zambia, Robert Hosbach

Biomedical Engineering

Robert Hosbach is proposing a sustainable business plan to bring a small‐scale irrigation pump to rural Ndola, Zambia. With hundreds of thousands of citizens living in poverty and semi‐annual starvation, Ndola is in need of a means to grow crops effectively in the rainy season. Their current agricultural practices rely solely on the inconsistent rainfall during this time. My pump will be constructed from locally‐available aluminum cans, epoxy, glue, and fasteners (refer to Appendix B for technical drawings of the pump). The business will employ only a small number of Zambians, but will bring a means of food and income …

Writing A Usda Process Verified Program, Noah Nelson

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project undertakes the writing of a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Process Verified Program (PVP) for the cattle in California Polytechnic State University’s Beef Program. This project covers the writing of the program, its submittal for review and auditing from the USDA, and the management changes required in Cal Poly’s beef program.

Motivations For Camp Staff To Work At Camp, Jessica M. Cresci

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

Camp staff are the heart of summer camps and can affect how the summer runs. The purpose of this study was to identify the motivations for staff to work at residential summer camps with special regard to any differences in motivations between staff who attended camp as a camper and staff who never attended camp as well as between international and national staff. This study used cluster sampling measuring 21 possible motivations. A link to an online survey was sent to eight camps as identified on the American Camp Association website. The top six motivations for staff to work at …

Gerber Project For Lockheed Martin, Andrew Callahan, Sean Lawyer

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Lockheed Martin, the world’s premier aerial combat vehicle manufacturer was pressed to find an eco-friendly way to package their impregnated epoxy. In the current system, the epoxy would be cut on the Gerber table to a pre-determined length and then sandwiched inside of two corrugated fiberboard sheets for storage inside of a freezer. The current process was not only labor intensive, but the corrugated fiberboard had to be disregarded after one use. In conjunction with the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Packaging program and Melmat Incorporated, we were able to find a corrugated plastic substrate to replace the currently non-reusable …

Continuously Improving Cash-Gift Process, Alejandra Sanchez

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Cal Poly is in process of executing a strategic plan with the vision of becoming the “Premier Comprehensive Polytechnic University”. Working to optimize University Advancement Services’ (UA) donation processing and gift acceptance is critical for future success of the campaign. In order to accomplish UA’s vision, Industrial Technology professor Eric Olsen applied a lean process tool known as Kaizen to promote continuous improvement. The Kaizen event was focused on reducing delays in the cash-gift processing and ensuring donations are properly allocated while donors recognized in a timely manner.

The Kaizen event engaged key players from all levels of the process. …

Perceptions Of American Wines In The United Kingdom And Uk Trend Analysis, Jordan Sauvain

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

Complying With Proposition 2 Chore-Time Modular Belt Cage System Modifications And The Effects, Angela Coelho, Andrew Demler

Agribusiness

The California poultry industry is at a turning point due to the approaching deadline of Proposition 2 taking effect in 2015. The method of choice to be implemented to stay in business is called an enriched colony cage system. This system is very popular in E.U production, however has yet to be implemented in the United States. Thus, for the purpose of this project the modification of Chore Time® equipment at the Cal Poly poultry unit to resemble colony cages was the taken approach.

The fiscal impact the new law will have on California egg farmers can only be estimated. …

Marketing Plan Focusing On The 4 P’S Of The Marketing Mix For A Wine Bar In The City Of San Luis Obispo, Kurtis Robert Wurster

Agribusiness

Wine is a large industry expanding into new markets and open to new ideas. A popular idea was to open wine bars, where individuals could come experience the world of wine without any prior knowledge. Wine bars have been growing and not all have managed to stay successful and meet the demands of consumers. To discover consumers’ preferences, primary research was conducted in the city of San Luis Obispo. The tool used was a survey of 168 respondents. The research was done to determine the feasibility of a wine bar in San Luis Obispo and if so, how to market …

Analysis Of Function Drink Brand Recognition, Natasja Kashani

Agribusiness

The beverage industry has been rapidly expanding over the last century, and currently includes a variety of smaller beverage markets. Functional Beverages have been the newest addition to the beverage industry and Function Drinks is only one of the major companies operating in this market segment. The objective of this study is to assess the current level of brand recognition for Function Drinks among college consumers. The main focus behind this research is to assist the company increase the level of consumer’s brand identification for their company and products through various forms of marketing, advertising, and promotional strategies. It is …

A Study On The Feasibility Of Implementing A Replacement Heifer Enterprise, Spencer Bradley Winton

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

A Marketing Plan For An Artisan Bread Bakery, Audrey Campana

Agribusiness

This study was undertaken to determine whether there is market potential for Word-of-Mouth Bakery to expand its current operation in food retailing in Modesto and the surrounding areas. A Case Study was conducted on Panera Bread Company to use as a competitive analysis to compare Word-of-Mouth Bakery with an established nationally known artisan bread company. An expert opinion poll was also conducted to assess the market potential in supermarkets from the observations of in-store bakery managers in Modesto and the surrounding areas. A SWOT analysis was used to determine the internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats that …

The Political And Economic Justifications Of Rice Trade Distortions In The United States And Japan, Ryan Thomas Wilson

Agribusiness

Rice is one of the most distorted commodities in the world. The United States and Japan both hold rice sector policies that significantly protect their industries and distort trade. This study identifies major rice sector policies in the U.S. and Japan, and demonstrates their probable economic consequences in terms of social welfare. U.S. producers are major beneficiaries and Japanese consumers are at a major welfare loss. This study demonstrates the use of economic analysis as a tool in policy formulation. Change to these policies is not likely, unless drastic social/economic changes were to happen.

Budget Analysis For A Napa County Vineyard, Christopher Jan Hyde

Agribusiness

This study was undertaken to determine whether farming premium wine grapes can generate profit on a 10 acre site in Napa County, and if farming wine grapes can be a profitable long term investment.

The report utilizes two techniques for analysis of the data. The break-even analysis will be used to determine whether the operation is potentially profitable. Vineyard establishment costs were outlined in and production costs (from year 3 forward) defined. Production costs and grape revenues are weighed to determine net revenues above total costs. Monthly per acre break down of costs demonstrates how vineyard production costs fluctuate during …

Cal Poly Organic Farm Business Plan, Eric Ryan Mccarthy

Agribusiness

This study was undertaken to determine which strategies would allow the Cal Poly Organic Farm to operate as a profitable business without compromising educational and agricultural objectives. Three strategies were analyzed to determine the most profitable approach. The first strategy, expanding CSA sales, emphasizes marketing efforts to increase products and services awareness. This should increase CSA, CPOF, merchandise, and farmers’ markets sales. The second strategy implements new CSA produce boxes that cater to specific groups. Existing produce boxes will remain available to CSA members. Expanding produce boxes can be done with the produce on hand or expanding crop selection. The …

A Study Of The Economic Effects Of Imposing Fair Trade Coffee Consumption In San Francisco, Alexander Preston Magginetti

Agribusiness

Noting the rising sales of eco-friendly and fairly traded goods in the United States, this study examines the effects of implementing a policy that would limit the supply of non-fair-trade coffee in San Francisco. The goal of this policy would be to increase the sales of the fair-trade coffee market in the United States, and benefit fair-trade coffee growers by mandating the sale of fair-trade coffee in San Francisco. This study focuses on the economic effects of the policy on consumers and producers of fair-trade coffee, regular coffee, tea, and soda.

“Fair trade” began at the end of World War …

A Marketing Plan For Main Street Small Animal Hospital In Templeton, Ca, Lisa Karcher

Agribusiness

A marketing plan was developed for Main Street Small Animal Hospital in Templeton, CA using client survey research. The surveys determined the possible marketing avenues to improve the current marketing status of Main Street.

Correlation Of Art And Design Characteristics Used In Wine Labels And Prices, Jordan Waltman

Agribusiness

A study determining if there is a correlation between art and design characteristics incorporated in the label and the wine's price.

A Target Profile And Positioning For An Informational Lettuce Website, Julee Dyann Evangelo

Agribusiness

This project was conducted to determine what type of content a consumer would like to see on a lettuce informational website and what will drive consumers to re-visit this informational website. A survey was used to collect the data for this project. The survey was self-administered online offered through Survey Monkey. The survey link was posted on a number of food forums, Facebook fan pages related to food, and Tanimura & Antle’s website.

The data described lettuce purchasing behavior, internet usage related to food and social networking, and demographics of potential lettuce informational website visitors. Statistical tests were used to …

The Relationship Of Wine Prices And The Qualitative Aesthetics Of Wine Labels, Danielle Drews

Agribusiness

This study was undertaken to determine the relationship between price and various wine label design elements. These variables included golden mean, uniform font, proportion of yellow and orange, direction, realistic, abstract, winery/grape image, winery emblem, font type changes, font size changes, horizontal label, vertical label, Sonoma, and Napa. The researcher wanted to determine whether specific combinations of color and images on wine labels reflect greater aesthetic content and relate to their recommended price. Fifty wine labels were randomly selected from a given sample and several researchers evaluated each label looking specifically at the design elements listed above. A regression analysis …

Thoroughbreds: European Roots, Jennifer Elaine Skidmore

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Wine Label Design Aesthetics And The Correlation To Price, Vince Bonafede

Agribusiness

A study determining if there is a correlation between art and design characteristics on wine labels and if it determines the price points of the wine.

Labor Cost Effects On Apple Price, Victor Cancel

Agribusiness

Agriculture is an essential part of life in the United States due to the fact that everyone needs to eat. And, being that many commodities within agriculture, such as apples, are very labor intensive, the people that work in the industry are also very important. But while these laborers, many of who are legal or illegal immigrants from Mexico, are important to supplying Americans with food, many are compensated at a wage at or around the amount required by federal law. Since the apple industry is so labor intensive, discussions have been raised about how much the cost of labor …

Consumers And Benefits Of Genetically Modified Vegetables, Megan Carter Judge

Master's Theses

With the adoption of biotechnology in many agricultural products with first-generation biotechnology traits such as increased pest resistance, greater herbicide resistance, and increased yields the growers have accepted them. The next wave of biotech crops have second-generation traits, such as improved nutrient content, extended shelf life, reduced pesticide and herbicide application (a consumer demanded trait), and better taste. Will these consumer benefits offset any concern that the consumer has regarding biotechnology? What are those benefits and how should the information be communicated to the consumer?

Three focus groups give insight to the proposed questions. The focus groups were done in …

Optimizing Finance Procurement For New Businesses, Kyle Schoenberger

Graphic Communication

When starting a business in the Graphic Communication field, capital is nearly always needed to purchase equipment as most of these graphics based businesses require state of the art computers, printing presses, and large facilities to conduct business. Such expenses can range from a few thousand to a few million dollars. While some might have previous experience procuring business capital, many have none. Being that these items are crucial to starting a business in the Graphic Communication industry, capital is a keystone to success. This study addresses the problem of how to optimize efforts when seeking capital through bank loans …

Data Analysis For The Cal Poly Compost Operation, Mark C. Klever

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This data analysis is an excel program designed to be a working tool to handle and analyse large volumes of numbers (temperatures) created by the Cal Poly Compost Operation. This program will help in the best management practices to quickly analyze data to help prevent, reduce or eliminate pathogens in the finished product.

Swot Analysis Of A General Store, Brooke Chandler

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.